Adult Children

Parenting is hard. Parenting while carrying your own childhood wounds? Even harder.
Many of us brought our pasts into motherhood without even realizing it. We didn’t set out to repeat old patterns or project our pain – but sometimes, that’s exactly what happened…

In a world where everything comes with an enormous price tag, I’ve made a deliberate choice not to charge my six kids rent to live at home. It’s not because I’m against teaching responsibility or preparing them for adulthood. It’s because I believe in giving them the kind of support…

Faith, a caring mother in her 60s, faced one of the hardest challenges of her life. Her 51-year-old daughter and 18-year-old grandson were living with her. Although Faith loved them deeply, their presence created ongoing stress and constant conflicts in her home. Over time…

The U.S. economy expanded 1.6 percent in the first three months of 2021, compared with 1.1 percent in the final quarter of 2020. The economy shook off some of the lingering effects of the pandemic as consumers started spending again…

There’s a certain kind of silence that falls over the house when your kids are grown. No more soccer practice. No more school pickups. No more late-night snack runs. But there’s often something else that lingers in that silence: guilt. For many moms, especially those…

In honor of my father, who died in 2020 at the age of 93, I’m opening a conversation about men and boys. My father was typical of his time, showing love for our family by working hard and providing for us. He often did not have much time for his children. We became…

Our numbers are legion – mothers who did the best we could with what we had… and are still carrying the weight of wondering if it was ever enough. So many of us are quietly struggling. With guilt. With strained relationships. With the painful question: Where did I go wrong?

While grandparenting can be one of the greatest gifts, I reflect on what I wrote before I had grandchildren and agree with Clare Ansberry about “ceding control” to our adult children when they become parents. Since having a grandchild (now five years old), I also want to elaborate…

By the time we reach our 60s, we reflect on what we once hoped for with our family. I hear from women that they would grow older harmoniously with their families. It is encouraging and a blessing when this is the case. But many struggle under the shroud of secrecy…

When Baby Boomers started their working lives, retirement pensions were more common. However, starting in the 1970s, the IRA and 401(k) revolution kicked off the transition away from defined benefit plans (pensions) to defined contribution plans like 401(k)s…